


It's A Menorah, Tim Drake

by musicspeakstoo



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bat Family, Gen, Hanukkah, Superfamily (DCU)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicspeakstoo/pseuds/musicspeakstoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim doesn't expect to celebrate Hanukkah this year, but as usual, his family surprises him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's A Menorah, Tim Drake

**Author's Note:**

> So I don't know a whole lot about the comics, but there's a post on tumblr that said "tim drake is jewish u can't convince me otherwise" and since i am all about more jewish characters, and the Batfam, i wrote a little hanukkah fic. There's no real point in canon to place this fic, so don't worry about that. Super special shoutout to @timdrcke on tumblr, for saying "hey, this idea is cute, you should write it." This fic is gen, but if you squint you can see dickbabs, superbat, and timkon. Un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. The title is a ripoff of "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".

December is a hard month for Tim, as well as the rest of the heroes of Gotham. For most of them, it means the loss of their parents, or someone else close to them. It’s especially hard for Tim, though, because usually December meant Hanukkah, meant lighting the menorah with his parents.

This year, though, he’s sure that Hanukkah will be forgotten. He’s the only one who celebrates it, and he’s never mentioned to anyone but Conner that he’s Jewish. Christmas, though not as bleak an affair as it had been in the past, is a subdued affair. It’s generally spent in Wayne Manor, everyone gathering in the living room to watch movies all night. They only really do something if someone else, like Clark, insists on it. Jason doesn’t usually show up and Bruce only makes a brief appearance. They do exchange presents, though, which is always fun.

Another reason why he’s sure Hanukkah’s off the table this year is that it’s earlier than usual. Normally, it’s right around Christmas, he remembers begging his parents for a tree like all the other kids had, and a little easier to remember. It doesn’t usually bother him, not celebrating it, but for some reason it bothers him this time.

He feels himself getting sullen and snappish as the first night of Hanukkah comes closer. It makes him feel worse when he sees the hurt on Dick’s face after he tells him to fuck off after Dick asks him what’s wrong. He feels like a total asshole when he yanks his arm out of Babs’ grip and her mouth goes thin. He knows they tell Bruce, but he doesn’t say anything. Then again, he wouldn’t. He knows he’s being petulant and has to remind himself that he is actually a teenager and that he’s allowed to act like this. 

Bruce sends him out on patrol by himself a few hours before sundown on the first night. He doesn’t know if it’s a punishment for snapping or if Bruce is just trying to give him space. He stops a carjacking and breaks up a few bar fights, but his night is relatively quiet. Still, he stays out an extra half hour, brooding. 

When he gets back, he’s out of his suit and halfway up the stairs to the main house when he smells it. There’s definitely a familiar onion smell in the air and Tim feels his heart beat faster. He practically runs up the stairs and when he gets to the living room, everyone is there, surrounded by a beautiful glass menorah. 

Dick and Babs are sitting on the couch, holding glasses of wine and laughing. Stephanie, Cassie, and Kara are sitting on the floor at their feet. Damian is sitting in the middle of the room, a dreidel in front of him, reading an instruction manual. Jason is lounging against the wall away from everyone, but not too far from Bruce, who’s standing in the doorway talking to Clark, Krypto at their feet. Conner is carefully putting candles in the menorah.

The table that’s usually in the dining room is in there, pressed up against the far wall and filled with latkes, bowls of sour cream and applesauce, sufganiyot, and pieces of gelt scattered all around. 

Everyone turns to look at him when he comes in, and they all smile, except for Jason, whose scowl lessens slightly. 

“What’s going on?” Tim asks, confused.

“Master Tim, did you really think we would let you spend Hanukkah brooding?” Alfred speaks up from behind him.

He blushes, “Well, kinda. I mean, I know you guys don’t celebrate it, so I wasn’t going to say anything.” 

They all stare at him and Conner, Kara, and Clark give him a look he thinks of as their “dude, we’re aliens” look. 

“We’re your family, Tim,” Bruce says, “And your traditions are our traditions. I’m sorry I didn’t catch on sooner, I would never want to do anything that makes you think like you don’t belong.”

Tim feels his lower lip wobble, just a little, and he flings himself at Bruce for a hug. He hears Jason say, “nice job on feelings 101, Clark, how many times did you guys practice that?” and then “ow!” so someone must’ve hit him, but Tim doesn’t really care about that right now. He just lets Bruce hug him and the warmth of his family flow through him.

Eventually, he steps back and Conner hands him a book of matches, smiling, “How about we light these candles now?”

Tim takes a deep breath and smiles back at him, taking the matches from him. His hands don’t shake when he lights the shamash, but his voice does break as he says the prayers. Two different hands appear on his shoulder and he knows without looking that it’s Dick and Babs. He steps back and takes a shaky breath. It’s not the same as what he did as a kid, but it’s just as good.

“Can we eat now?” Damian asks.

Everyone laughs and the moment’s broken. They all dive into the food, making appreciative noises. Kara is the first one to give him a present, a new pair of headphones. It seems to be what the others were waiting for, because they all suddenly start giving gifts.

Damian gives him a book on gardening, “If anyone’s going to be stupid enough to do something like that, it would be you, Drake.”

Babs gives him a complicated piece of tech that he’s not sure the purpose of, which is the real present. “If you figure it out before Christmas, I’ll give you my pie recipe. Here’s a hint: Dinah helped me with some of it. She says hi, by the way.”

Stephanie and Cassie give him some weird smelling hair product. “Your hair is really embarrassing and it’s time someone did something about it,” is what they tell him. 

Clark gives him two tickets to the Metropolis Monarchs’ home opener and a Kryptonian logic puzzle. “I was a big baseball fan at your age, and I know Connor’s never been to a game, so it’s kind of a joint present. The puzzle’s all yours, though.”

He gives Clark a hug, knowing that he’ll be cool with it. He wonders how much Clark knows about him and Conner, but decides to shelf it for another time. He sees Bruce looking sappy out of the corner of his eye.

Bruce gives him the keys to the Batcycle, “Dick’s just going to crash it again, so I figured it’s better off with you.” It’s more than that, though, this is Bruce saying that he knows Tim’s responsible enough to handle it. 

Dick shrugs, “Little bro’s getting my hand-me-down, I’ve already got an even sweeter ride.” 

Dick gives him a framed picture of them that must have been taken when Tim first became Robin. They’re on a rooftop, arms around each other, and laughing so hard they’re almost doubled over. He doesn’t remember what was so funny, but that’s not the important thing.

Jason shifts uncomfortably and shoves his present into Tim’s hand. Tim takes his time unwrapping it, just to fuck with him a little. It’s a record player. Tim’s been itching for one, but he’s never found one he’s liked. This one is gorgeous, made out of wood, and also includes a CD player. 

“This is so awesome, I love it! Thanks, Jason!” He beams at Jason, who is smiling back at him, which is nice to see.  


Jason must sense everyone staring at him because he scowls again, “Yeah, whatever, just don’t get it blown up or anything, it was hell to find.”

Conner’s last, and he gives his present to Tim, beaming.

He unwraps it carefully,“Sherlock Holmes! I’ve wanted to read this forever, you’re the best!” 

Conner’s blushing slightly, “Yeah, I remember you saying that and I found that in a bookstore a couple weeks ago, so…” 

He trails off and scratches the back of his head. Tim looks at him warmly.Suddenly, Krypto barks, alerting everyone to the fact that he’s trying to swipe a latke from the table. Everyone laughs and Damian goes to stop him. Conner sits by Kara and Clark, who say something to him in Kryptonian that makes him blush again and they laugh.

Everyone starts to swap presents and attempt to play dreidel. Tim sits on the sidelines, watching them with a warm feeling in his chest. Sometimes he forgets, between the mystery solving and the crime fighting, that these guys are more than just his coworkers. It’s been a long time, or at least feels like it was, since he’s compared what he has now to what he had. He’s still not sure he would change anything, if he could. There are things he has now that he could never have had in his normal life.

Babs looks up and sees him standing back a bit. She grins at him and wheels her way over, “How’re you doing, Tim?”

He smiles back, “I’m good. I really appreciate you guys doing this for me, you know.”

“We love you, Tim. Like Bruce said, your traditions are our traditions too.”

She pinches his cheek and he yanks away, grumbling. She laughs at him, “Now, come on and help me kick their asses.”

He rolls his eyes, but walks over to where the others are sitting. Conner shifts over to make some room. He’s got Dick on his other side and Bruce right across from him. He can see the candles still burning in the menorah and thinks about the people around him. He figures there can be more than one Hanukkah miracle.


End file.
